Syrian arrested in Germany for membership in terrorist organization

A 24-year-old Syrian asylum seeker has been arrested in southern Germany on suspicion of membership in Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda-linked group previously known as the al-Nusra Front.

The man, who came to Germany in September, was arrested in a refugee accommodation centre in the town of Boeblingen near Stuttgart, police said in a statement.

"At no time was there evidence of a terrorist plot," the statement said.

Police said that information about the suspect had been retrieved from a data storage device found on a train, and that two mobile phones, a notebook and other documents were confiscated during the arrest.

Germany has been on high alert since July, when two terrorist attacks - both claimed by Islamic State and both carried out by asylum seekers - took place in Bavaria in the space of one week.

Beirut (dpa) - Syrian government forces and their allies advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing the Old City, while demanding the armed opposition groups leave the area.